June collections showed sales tax collections, an index of spending, are up 6 percent and payroll taxes jumped 10 percent. Even motor fuel taxes, based on gallons sold, surprised economists by rising nearly 8 percent amid skyrocketing pump prices.

Only corporate income tax fell short of predictions - nevertheless up 2 percent at $28.4 million.

"The drought is over," said Tax Commission chief economist Doug Macdonald of the second year of positive numbers. But he cautioned, "This is probably one of the best years we are going to see for a while."

After a series of sobering deficits in the early 2000s, the preliminary report showing the state's brimming cash reservoir is a welcome change. Macdonald said the final figures are unlikely to change significantly.

"These are great numbers and we wish we could see them continue," said Tax Commissioner Palmer DePaulis. "But it's always an up-and-down cycle.".

That fluctuation means extra cash lying around now is a dangerous temptation to lawmakers.

"In times of surplus, the tendency is to fund not just the needs, but the wishes and whims of government and all parties," said Rep. Wayne Harper, R-West Jordan.

A recent Salt Lake Tribune poll found that almost 60 percent of Utahns want surplus revenues used for education programs. Fourteen percent want a tax refund.

Almost 13 percent of Utahns - who apparently have better memories than their representatives - say stash the excess cash in a rainy-day fund.

Boom-cycle programs, Harper explains, become a painful liability when the inevitable downward spiral revisits the state. Lawmakers quickly forget how hard it is to slash.

Harper, co-chairman of the Legislature's Tax Reform Task Force, says a goal of the reform proposals that will be put before lawmakers this winter is to structure taxes to level out revenue peaks and valleys. Corporate franchise tax, for instance, is highly volatile based on the economy.

"You want to be able to project and forecast government into the future," Harper says. "And the boom and bust cycles don't allow for that. We want to go through and smooth that out, so that government is stable and tax collection is predictable."

Still, he says, extra cash can make tax reform more palatable by making the transition less painful.

"In years of surplus it is the best time to do tax reform," Harper said, "because you can go through and adjust the rates without critically impacting government services. We can use some of that surplus to reduce the burden on the taxpayers."

Main surplus sources

$43 million in sales tax

$99 million in individual income tax

$11 million in corporate franchise tax

$19 million in severance taxes